1971-72 season scrapbook

[True Ram]

On 26/03/2022 at 17:50, PistoldPete said:

Ron still looked in good shape a few years ago so sorry to hear that he is not doing well now. Will he be at the 50th anniversary celebs? 

When I Ron and his wife I will ask them 

[Guest]

On 31/10/2021 at 22:59, Brailsford Ram said:

In that era, Derby had huge followings at certain away games, that are impossible today. In the 2nd Division Championship season, we took 12,000 to Bury, 15,000 to Oxford, and 16,000 to Aston Villa. We got there early and most were in the grounds by 1.30pm to ensure we all got in. Where it was a lock out, it was the home fans who suffered because we were in before them. For example, at Oxford the gate was just short of their record attendance of about 17,500 at the Manor Ground. The gates were shut at 1.30pm because we were all in. The only Oxford fans in attendance were a handful who had arrived early and their season ticket holders who were few in number. The Oxford fans who were on the terraces, were herded gently into a corner by the Derby fans, without any violence. By 1.45 pm most of the Derby fans were singing a crescendo of "We have taken over" and we had, very peacefully. Some of this had been inspired by Brian Clough who early in the week had told the fans "Come to Oxford and we will destroy them at the kick-in." So we did and it was a carnival day out. Clough and the players came out onto the pitch well before the players had changed into their kit, to applaud us, which was unheard of. It is impossible today because of the segregation and ticketing requirements.

Ron Atkinson started as a player with Villa but he left without making a first team appearance to join Southern League side Headington United in 1959. Headington changed their name to Oxford United in 1960. Having won the Southern League in 1961-62 they joined the Football League at the start of the 1962-63 season, replacing Accrington Stanley who went into liquidation and failed to complete their fixtures the previous season.

Ron Atkinson holds the club record for the most overall appearances with 560 (384 in the League), John Shuker holds the record for the most appearances in the Football League with 478 and Ron's late brother Graham Atkinson holds the record for the most goals scored with 107. Like Ron, he left Villa without making the first team and joined Oxford in 1962. Ron was the captain and a wing half. Oxford were promoted to Division Two for the 1968-69 season and Derby gained their first victory of the season against them, winning two nil in our promotion season.

Ron was a stout, chubby individual with big thighs. He was a quite hideous sight on the pitch because, vainly, he insisted on wearing ridiculously short tight shorts to show off his ungainly physique. He was nicknamed 'The Tank.' Normanton Lad's revised assessment of him is about right. He turned into a much better manager than he was a player. 

The quote above refers to the return game which we also won by 2-0 with two headed goals by Hector not long before the interval. I remember quite early in the first half, Graham Atkinson going round Les Green by the penalty spot and faced with a wide open goal he managed to put his shot wide. He slumped to the floor with his head in his hands as the huge Rams' contingent sang 'You missed an open goal, you missed an open goal...." He was anonymous for the rest of the game.

Ron never lost his grotesque vanity. When he was manager at Man. Utd. he had left his wife. The Sun found him with his new lady friend sunbathing on a beach in Majorca, dripping with gold jewellery and wearing a tiny man thong which grossly amplified the grotesqueness of his big ass. The Sun made sure the pics went global!

 

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Brailsford Ram

[LeedsCityRam]

46 minutes ago, Brailsford Ram said:

Ron was a stout, chubby individual with big thighs. He was a quite hideous sight on the pitch because, vainly, he insisted on wearing ridiculously short tight shorts to show off his ungainly physique. He was nicknamed 'The Tank.' Normanton Lad's revised assessment of him is about right. He turned into a much better manager than he was a player. 

The quote above refers to the return game which we also won by 2-0 with two headed goals by Hector not long before the interval. I remember quite early in the first half, Graham Atkinson going round Les Green by the penalty spot and faced with a wide open goal he managed to put his shot wide. He slumped to the floor with his head in his hands as the huge Rams' contingent sang 'You missed an open goal, you missed an open goal...." He was anonymous for the rest of the game.

Ron never lost his grotesque vanity. When he was manager at Man. Utd. he had left his wife. The Sun found him with his new lady friend sunbathing on a beach in Majorca, dripping with gold jewellery and wearing a tiny man thong which grossly amplified the grotesqueness of his big ass. The Sun made sure the pics went global!

 

 

Seems an appropriate time to share this pearler. No need to thank me everyone ??

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by LeedsCityRam

[Guest]

3 hours ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Seems an appropriate time to share this pearler. No need to thank me everyone ??

Is this Jim Smith BE v Ron Atkinson FC ????

[loweman2]

On 27/03/2022 at 11:20, Brailsford Ram said:

If you carry on reading this thread which now has only about six weeks to go, you will come to see that Roger Kirkpatrick redeemed himself somewhat for his shocking decision at Stoke. However, I will always prefer the referees who are more comfortable in avoiding the limelight. It is the players and managers that supporters go to see in the main, not the referees. That's one of the great things about being a football fan; it leaves us each with our own divergence of opinions for discussion. It would be much more mundane if we were all thinking the same.

I feel much the same way about the many good and some quite average players who I have watched playing for Derby during the past 25 years who became millionaires through their offerings. I do not begrudge them that but times evolve and I find a sense of injustice in the fact that many of the legends we are discussing in this thread had to work hard into their retirements because the game had paid them less than they deserved because of the miserly directors who dealt with them in the 'master and servant' regime that prevailed at the time. Some supporters will still try to tell you that when Kevin Hector joined Derby County from Bradford Park Avenue in 1966, he was paid £100 a week. He was not. When he left Derby the first time in 1978 to join Vancouver Whitecaps, after playing at the very top of the English game for a decade, he was earning a meagre £105 a week, which was about the same as I was earning as a probationary police constable.  Alan Hinton, who was the Whitecaps coach, revealed that figure in his recent autobiography. Today, Tom Lawrence earns more in a week than many PCs do in a year. But I guess that's life and evolution for you.

The legendary players we are talking about here are all at the very top of the tree among the hundreds who have played for Derby County since 1888 when the League began. They were the only ones who took us to the pinnacle of the English and European game. Right up to the time that Lionel Pickering owned the club, all of the ex-players were entitled to a complimentary ticket to watch the Rams at home - the last three survivors of the 1946 FA Cup winners, Jack Howe, Jim Bullions and Reg Harrison, were entitled to a seat alongside Lionel in the directors' box. That revered hospitality is no longer considered. If it had been I do not honestly believe that Mel Morris would have known who most of them were. The championship winning players, with the exception of Roy McFarland, collectively feel that the club has forgotten them. Phil Lowe@loweman2 of Derby County Heritage fame, discovered that when he and his father made the effort to meet the Legends in recent years, as expressed in his excellent threads on this forum.

The whole history of our club is so important and we are lucky that so much of it has been recorded in various formats over the last 50 odd years. It is important that this is continued in our lifetimes. I would like to suggest to Boycie and David the idea of creating a sub-forum of the History of The Rams where threads such as this can be moved and added to so that younger supporters can share their memories from the post-championship winning years. Then our memories and those of others will live on to be shared by the future generations.

As for future seasons, I have committed to supporting LeedsCityRam in what he is doing up to 1975-76. At my age I only want to plan that far ahead but I do hope I'm still around for an extension or two.

COYR 

I completely agree that to create a sub section where we can record the history of the club is an excellent idea, the story of how we got to where we are is something that all fans should know, the interest in such things normally arrives in the middle years, a time where it becomes your duty to pass on the the next generation the encumbrance of a life long duty of following the Rams so it would be good to have a section that can be referred to, a number of readers on the forum will find the tales of our history boring and of little interest but their time will come!

As the forum has grown over the years there are literally thousands of threads on so many topics but a great percentage of them bare no interest now and are based on hearsay at the time and they are intermingled with a few rare golden topics but all are buried in the trash.

[LeedsCityRam]

Friday 31st March 1972 & with Derby lying in wait the following day at the Baseball Ground, title rivals Leeds travelled to Upton Park for their final game in hand, knowing a win against West Ham would take them top

It very nearly ended in disaster for Leeds with West Ham going 2-0 up before two Eddie Gray goals saved them a point..

 

And here’s Alan Ball putting the boot in;

 

Leeds’ second half comeback wasn’t enough to take them top but was enough for Derby to slip to 3rd on goal average ahead of the Easter Saturday clash at the BBG. Now that all the top 4 had played 35 games, it put Man City’s lead throughout March into proper context - all to play for in the last 7 games;

Edited March 31, 2022 by LeedsCityRam

[Guest]

Friday 31 March 1972

West Ham United 2:2 Leeds United

Gripped now by the race for the title, along with a friend, I was up at the crack of dawn to head for Derby Railway Station to make our way to the Boleyn Ground to watch West Ham take on Leeds in an 11 am Good Friday kick off. Morning kick offs were still a frequent tradition at London grounds on Bank Holidays.

We took the 7 am train to St Pancras and we were pleased to read in the morning papers that Leeds would be without Mick Jones and Johnny Giles who were respectively suffering a thigh strain and a groin strain. They had stayed behind at Elland Road in an effort to get them fit for the big clash the following day against Derby at the Baseball Ground.

Don Revie said ‘They might be ready for Saturday but it is very doubtful at the moment.”

On the train to London, I recognised the familiar faces of several fellow Derby fans. So we were not alone in the obsession that had suddenly overcome us as our dreams of becoming champions edged towards reality. A capacity crowd packed into the Boleyn. The two teams had drawn nil-nil at Leeds earlier in the season. The same score stood in a third round League Cup tie in London but in the replay at Leeds, the Hammers had triumphed one-nil with an extra time winner from Clyde Best.

West Ham took the game to Leeds straight from the kick-off and it paid off in the fourth minute when Billy Bonds put the Hammers ahead. We were ecstatic in 25 minutes when Geoff Hurst increased the lead, which West Ham held until half time. But Leeds staged a tremendous fight back in the second half and rescued a point with two goals from Eddie Gray in 61 and 75 minutes. It meant that Leeds had failed to overcome West Ham in any of their four games that season.

On the eve of their visit to the Baseball Ground, Leeds found themselves now locked together with Derby on 49 points.

Afterwards, the Hammer’s manager, Ron Greenwood launched an astonishing attack on Leeds and tipped Derby to win the title.

Greenwood, who rarely criticised other clubs said,  “A lot has been talked about Leeds. I have never disputed that they are a good side. But their players tend to say too much. During the week I read that skipper, Billy Bremner, was looking forward to a successful Easter. He said that West Ham presented no problems.

“This sort of talk is unnecessary. All it does is aggravate the team you are playing against. Then you hear Jack Charlton on television after two games against London clubs – Spurs and Arsenal. He made scathing remarks about fellow professionals.

“I only hope he is as self-analytical about his own performance today as he has been about some of his opponents.”

Referring to comparisons that have been made between Leeds and Spain’s Real Madrid, Greenwood said, “We are one of the few English clubs that have played Real. Some of the things that happened today involving Leeds players do not entitle them to be mentioned in the same sentence.”

Five of Leeds’ remaining games were away and Greenwood said, “Both of their goals against us came from dead-ball situations – not from chances that had been created.”

Talking about the last lap of the title chase, Greenwood said, “I have a great fancy for Derby – if they carry on playing the football I know they can play. I’m not disputing Leeds claim. They have done a great deal for English football in some respects. But there must be a moral somewhere. They always fail at the death.

Greenwood’s highly critical remarks came in a radio interview. Immediately after the game, he had politely declined to discuss the match with newspaper reporters. His attack followed one by Spurs’ players – against some of Leeds’ tactics in an FA Cup tie at Elland Road the previous month.

While a Hammers’ victory would have been most welcome, how priceless the point that Leeds dropped that day, eventually turned out to be for the Rams. Furthermore, the intense battle that Leeds had faced was hardly ideal preparation for their visit to the Baseball Ground just 24 hours later.

That day, the headline in the Coventry Evening Telegraph was ‘City not for me says Clough - I could not quit Derby now.’

The paper reported that Clough had emerged as the clear favourite to take over Coventry’s managerial vacancy but he had said “I am not going to Coventry – I am not going anywhere. I am on a five year contract at Derby, it has two and a half years to run and I fully expect to see my contract out. The only place I am going is for a close-season holiday.

“It is totally untrue that I have signed for Coventry. At present I would not even join Leeds United. How could anyone suggest I would quit Derby at a time like this? It is untrue that I have been contacted by anyone from Coventry or anyone speaking on behalf of Coventry. I don’t wish to talk about it at a time when I have such very important matches coming up. I think it must have come from Don Revie or Joe Harvey to distract us from our matches against them over Easter.”

‘The forthright denial from Clough will silence immediate speculation, but he has openly showed his disapproval of Derby’s gates this season. The average remains around 32,000 and he had strong words recently about an attendance of 26,000 for a game with Ipswich, saying, “Derby is not ready for the League title.”

‘This is the second time that Clough has been linked with Highfield Road for he turned down the managership when Jimmy Hill quit the Sky Blues to go into television. Now he could feel differently because the salary offered would make him one of the highest paid managers in football. But there was no comment today from the Sky Blues and chairman Derrick Robbins is in Portugal and will not return to Britain until the middle of next week.

‘After Noel Cantwell was sacked, Robbins promised the playing staff that he would secure a top class manager and Clough certainly falls into that category. But it may not be until the end of the season before an announcement is made.’

The reality was that Clough and Taylor, at this time, had been in talks with Robbins and planned to join Coventry at the end of the season. They would have left by now, had it not been for the chance of winning the title with Derby.

 

[Guest]

I simply cannot let Alan Ball's observation in the Daily Mirror above about Derby's recent form pass without comment.

He said 'Derby's results recently haven't been as spectacular as those of their main rivals. But they've been getting by but there's no better time to come bang into form than right now.'

Form in the last seven games showed:

                               P    H    A   W    D    L   Pts

Derby County        7    4    3     6    1     0    13

Liverpool.               7    5    2     6    1     0    13

Leeds United         7    5    2     5    2     0    12

Man City                7    3    4      5     1    1    11      

Had it not been for Mr Kirkpatrick's astonishing decision to disallow Hector's 'goal' at Stoke, Derby would have been sailing with a 100% record Alan. Would that have been spectacular enough ????

[LeedsCityRam]

2 hours ago, Brailsford Ram said:

Friday 31 March 1972

West Ham United 2:2 Leeds United

Gripped now by the race for the title, along with a friend, I was up at the crack of dawn to head for Derby Railway Station to make our way to the Boleyn Ground to watch West Ham take on Leeds in an 11 am Good Friday kick off. Morning kick offs were still a frequent tradition at London grounds on Bank Holidays.

We took the 7 am train to St Pancras and we were pleased to read in the morning papers that Leeds would be without Mick Jones and Johnny Giles who were respectively suffering a thigh strain and a groin strain. They had stayed behind at Elland Road in an effort to get them fit for the big clash the following day against Derby at the Baseball Ground.

Don Revie said ‘They might be ready for Saturday but it is very doubtful at the moment.”

On the train to London, I recognised the familiar faces of several fellow Derby fans. So we were not alone in the obsession that had suddenly overcome us as our dreams of becoming champions edged towards reality. A capacity crowd packed into the Boleyn. The two teams had drawn nil-nil at Leeds earlier in the season. The same score stood in a third round League Cup tie in London but in the replay at Leeds, the Hammers had triumphed one-nil with an extra time winner from Clyde Best.

West Ham took the game to Leeds straight from the kick-off and it paid off in the fourth minute when Billy Bonds put the Hammers ahead. We were ecstatic in 25 minutes when Geoff Hurst increased the lead, which West Ham held until half time. But Leeds staged a tremendous fight back in the second half and rescued a point with two goals from Eddie Gray in 61 and 75 minutes. It meant that Leeds had failed to overcome West Ham in any of their four games that season.

On the eve of their visit to the Baseball Ground, Leeds found themselves now locked together with Derby on 49 points.

Afterwards, the Hammer’s manager, Ron Greenwood launched an astonishing attack on Leeds and tipped Derby to win the title.

Greenwood, who rarely criticised other clubs said,  “A lot has been talked about Leeds. I have never disputed that they are a good side. But their players tend to say too much. During the week I read that skipper, Billy Bremner, was looking forward to a successful Easter. He said that West Ham presented no problems.

“This sort of talk is unnecessary. All it does is aggravate the team you are playing against. Then you hear Jack Charlton on television after two games against London clubs – Spurs and Arsenal. He made scathing remarks about fellow professionals.

“I only hope he is as self-analytical about his own performance today as he has been about some of his opponents.”

Referring to comparisons that have been made between Leeds and Spain’s Real Madrid, Greenwood said, “We are one of the few English clubs that have played Real. Some of the things that happened today involving Leeds players do not entitle them to be mentioned in the same sentence.”

Five of Leeds’ remaining games were away and Greenwood said, “Both of their goals against us came from dead-ball situations – not from chances that had been created.”

Talking about the last lap of the title chase, Greenwood said, “I have a great fancy for Derby – if they carry on playing the football I know they can play. I’m not disputing Leeds claim. They have done a great deal for English football in some respects. But there must be a moral somewhere. They always fail at the death.

Greenwood’s highly critical remarks came in a radio interview. Immediately after the game, he had politely declined to discuss the match with newspaper reporters. His attack followed one by Spurs’ players – against some of Leeds’ tactics in an FA Cup tie at Elland Road the previous month.

While a Hammers’ victory would have been most welcome, how priceless the point that Leeds dropped that day, eventually turned out to be for the Rams. Furthermore, the intense battle that Leeds had faced was hardly ideal preparation for their visit to the Baseball Ground just 24 hours later.

That day, the headline in the Coventry Evening Telegraph was ‘City not for me says Clough - I could not quit Derby now.’

The paper reported that Clough had emerged as the clear favourite to take over Coventry’s managerial vacancy but he had said “I am not going to Coventry – I am not going anywhere. I am on a five year contract at Derby, it has two and a half years to run and I fully expect to see my contract out. The only place I am going is for a close-season holiday.

“It is totally untrue that I have signed for Coventry. At present I would not even join Leeds United. How could anyone suggest I would quit Derby at a time like this? It is untrue that I have been contacted by anyone from Coventry or anyone speaking on behalf of Coventry. I don’t wish to talk about it at a time when I have such very important matches coming up. I think it must have come from Don Revie or Joe Harvey to distract us from our matches against them over Easter.”

‘The forthright denial from Clough will silence immediate speculation, but he has openly showed his disapproval of Derby’s gates this season. The average remains around 32,000 and he had strong words recently about an attendance of 26,000 for a game with Ipswich, saying, “Derby is not ready for the League title.”

‘This is the second time that Clough has been linked with Highfield Road for he turned down the managership when Jimmy Hill quit the Sky Blues to go into television. Now he could feel differently because the salary offered would make him one of the highest paid managers in football. But there was no comment today from the Sky Blues and chairman Derrick Robbins is in Portugal and will not return to Britain until the middle of next week.

‘After Noel Cantwell was sacked, Robbins promised the playing staff that he would secure a top class manager and Clough certainly falls into that category. But it may not be until the end of the season before an announcement is made.’

The reality was that Clough and Taylor, at this time, had been in talks with Robbins and planned to join Coventry at the end of the season. They would have left by now, had it not been for the chance of winning the title with Derby.

 

 

Just on the subject of gates - below is the 71/72 season average. We averaged 33k which was comparable with Leeds, who only averaged 2500 more. Another factor will have been the size of the Baseball Ground - near 40k crowds must have been uncomfortable to watch matches in & the capacity also restricted Derby's ability to host larger crowds for the big games. Maine Road & Elland Road had capacities of 55k and 50k respectively so were able to host 45k-50k crowds at various points in that season, which obviously then inflates their average

Also wonder what the attraction of Coventry was to Clough, other than being highest paid manager in the league - their average was 23k, 5th lowest in the division & with no real success as a club (either then or now). Looked a sideways move at best

 

[Crewton]

Lol "Notts Forest" less than 21,500. Not so easy to fill your stadium when you're in the bottom 3,is it?? 

[LeedsCityRam]

1 hour ago, Crewton said:

Lol "Notts Forest" less than 21,500. Not so easy to fill your stadium when you're in the bottom 3,is it?? 

By March it looks like they'd turned their back on their team entirely;

25th March - 

13th March - 

 

And my personal favourite - 11th March (this was a Saturday match too) 

 

They also averaged slightly less than us in their only title season in 77/78 (32,501) ?

Edited March 31, 2022 by LeedsCityRam

[Guest]

1 hour ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Also wonder what the attraction of Coventry was to Clough, other than being highest paid manager in the league - their average was 23k, 5th lowest in the division & with no real success as a club (either then or now). Looked a sideways move at best

 

Coventry came as relative latecomers to the Football League, joining the Second Division in 1919 from the Southern League. Up until the 1960s their history was extremely modest. Relegated in 1925, they returned to the Second Division as champions of the Third Division South and Third Division South Cup winners in 1935–36. Relegated in 1952, they won promotion in the inaugural Fourth Division season in 1958–59. Coventry reached the First Division after winning the Third Division title in 1963–64 and the Second Division title in 1966–67 under the management of Jimmy Hill.

Jimmy Hill was a real pioneering football figure in the 1960s and a real modernising influence in the English game. He was an English football professional and later a renowned television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, pundit, analyst and assistant referee.

He began his playing career at Brentford in 1949, and moved to Fulham three years later. As chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, he successfully campaigned for an end to The Football League's maximum wage in 1961. After retiring from playing, in November that year, he took over as manager of Coventry City, modernising the team's image and guiding them from the Third to the First Division by 1967. They were to remain in the top tier for 34 years, becoming founder members of the Premier League, until their relegation in 2001.

Hill’s time at Coventry is remembered as ‘The Sky Blue Revolution’ and was marked by great changes to the club. His partnership with the chairman, Derrick Robbins also led to a redevelopment of the Highfield Road stadium, with two new stands being built.

Having led the club to the top tier, Hill resigned for a career in football broadcasting with ITV, and from 1973 to 1988 was host of the BBC's Match of the Day. Noel Cantwell replaced him at Coventry but after Hill’s departure, the ‘revolution’ had slowed somewhat. The big crowds that Hill had attracted to Highfield Road, went into decline.

By the time of Robbin’s approach, Clough’s relationship with Sam Longson was becoming increasingly fractious. Robbins was younger and more progressive in outlook than Sam, who had never invested any of his own wealth in Derby County, and he was offering Clough & Taylor the ambition and increased salaries they believed they deserved.

So that was the situation at the time as I saw it.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Brailsford Ram

[LeedsCityRam]

Matchday 36 – Saturday 1st April 1972 & the eagerly awaited clash between Derby & Leeds at the Baseball Ground

Leeds’ record against fellow title contenders had been very impressive – beating Man City comfortably at Elland Road, the only side to beat Liverpool at Anfield in 71/72 & had inflicted Derby’s biggest defeat of the season at Elland Road back in December. However, this match was to buck that trend with Derby putting on a champion display to win 2-0 – goals from John O’Hare & an own goal from Franny Lee’s punch bag in front of a raucous BBG crowd

Goals in below link ?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LfWsSPgbvCI?start=3&end=71

 

 

 

Pre-match edition of The Ram (mindful of the imminent full house v Leeds) was still focusing on the low gate against Ipswich the previous week. Further in the paper was criticism of poor average gates at Leeds & Man City from the national press, both of whom had significantly higher ground capacities than Derby;

 

Derby’s win coupled with Man City’s shock 1-2 home defeat by Stoke meant that for the first time in 1971/72, the Rams sat top of the First Division table. With 6 games to go, had Derby timed their title charge perfectly? Elsewhere, Liverpool beat West Brom 2-0 at Anfield to bring the top 4 all within 3 points;

Edited April 1, 2022 by LeedsCityRam

[Guest]

When Leeds arrived for this game, the Rams were still in second place, challenging Revie’s side, Manchester City and Liverpool. The League championship still seemed a long way off but a victory in this game would keep Derby in the hunt.

It appeared a daunting task for Leeds were the most clinically (and cynically) professional team around. Unloved by most outside West Yorkshire, they had great skill too but it was their method, which irritated at best and made them reviled at worst. But on this day Derby County were to take them apart.

Since Clough and Taylor arrived at Derby in 1967, the two sides had already met on 10 occasions in Cup and League games. Leeds had won eight and Derby one with one drawn.

The Ram’s only win so far had come on Easter Monday 1970 by a 4-1 margin in front of capacity 41,011 crowd at the BBG, when the gates had been locked 30 minutes before kick off. On that occasion Leeds had made 10 changes from their previous fixture, which was almost unheard of at the time. Faced with a European Cup semi-final clash with Celtic two days later, Revie had chosen to field a reserve team, a decision that was roundly booed by almost all present when the teams were announced before the start. The decision effectively marked surrender to Everton who went on to win the title that season.

The FA subsequently fined Leeds £5k for fielding an under strength side. In fairness to Leeds, they were midway through a fixture schedule that required them to play six games in 14 days in three competitions.

Following the draw at West Ham the previous day, Johnny Giles was declared fit to return to the Leeds’ midfield. But Mick Jones was still absent and the versatile Paul Madeley stood in for him at centre forward. For the Rams, Jim Walker continued in place of Alan Hinton, who was still recovering from injury.

The game got underway in a frenetic atmosphere, at a Baseball Ground bursting at the seams.  After only five minutes, McGovern was booked for clattering into Giles.

In his autobiography, McGovern described Giles as a superb player but, “He was, however, just as adept at kicking the opposition as he was at passing the ball, so when the opportunity for revenge arrived I accepted it gleefully. After taking his legs away from him, I turned immediately to give my name to the surprised referee.

“You don’t kick people!” shouted the prone Giles. “I do now!” I growled.

“When you played against Billy Bremner or Johnny Giles you had to go into ‘battle mode’. They were great players with a professional, ruthless streak who would intimidate you in any way possible to win the game.”

Leeds had the ball in the net shortly afterwards but Eddie Gray’s effort was ruled out for offside. Derby enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, with Leeds-born Kevin Hector in sparkling form. He had been a boyhood Leeds fan and played in the same Leeds’ School side as Paul Reaney and Paul Madeley who Leeds signed straight from school. Hector had been ignored and allowed to move on to become a teenage scoring legend at Bradford Park Avenue before joining the Rams.

McGovern, undeterred by his early booking, was keeping Giles quiet and the Rams nearly went ahead when Reaney headed a fine effort by Gemmill off the line. O’Hare was also having an excellent afternoon and it was he who gave Derby the lead in 16 minutes at the Osmaston End, making Jack Charlton look every one of his 36 years and heading Durban’s accurate centre past Gary Sprake. It was a beautiful goal, both in creation and execution, and a marvellous way for the Scottish international to mark his 200th appearance in less than five years for the Rams.

After that Leeds had no answer to the rampant Derby attack with Hector and O’Hare both going close. McFarland was finding time to join in too and he was unlucky not to extend the lead with a splendid effort. Although it remained 1-0 at the interval it was only a matter of time before the Rams added a second and when Hector opened up the Leeds defence with a superb angled pass, O’Hare seemed certain to score. Sprake, well off his line, blocked his goal bound shot but the ball broke to Hunter who, helplessly facing his own goal, could only watch in agony as it rebounded off him and into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

After that only some heroic defending by Leeds prevented Derby from running riot. Under continual pressure Revie’s men could muster only the occasional attack and when they did the Rams defenders marshalled by McFarland quickly stubbed out any threat and Boulton in goal was rarely troubled. The margin of victory hardly emphasised just how much the Rams had been on top.

I cannot leave this without quoting this eloquent summary by Gerald Mortimer from his match report in the DET, which said it all:

‘It may come as a surprise to those who follow football only through the medium of television and newspapers, but Leeds United are fallible. Derby County, brilliant, indefatigable, utterly ruthless, did not so much beat Leeds at the Baseball Ground on Saturday as massacre them. The score was 2-0 and, but for some heroic last-ditch defending, it could have been five or more to Derby.

‘This was a complete team performance by Derby County, produced when it was most needed, at a time of maximum pressure.

‘The belief persisted until late in the game that Leeds could pull something out to shake Derby. It was a view based on past evidence and not what was happening on the pitch.

‘……….The Rams so pulled the Leeds defence out of shape that it resembled a buckled iron bar, its strength no longer adequate. In midfield Derby ruled and the Leeds strikers could make no impact.’

Brian Clough was delighted and said,  “We have played the Derby way.” Even Revie had to admit that Derby had been magnificent and were full value for their win before tipping Clough’s side for the title if they weren’t able to win it themselves. He conceded that, “Derby played like true champions.”

With Manchester City losing 2-1 at home to Stoke, the win lifted the Rams to the top of the table. But with dark horses Liverpool beating West Brom at home, the title race was still wide open, particularly as the Rams were to take on the Reds at the BBG in the last game of the season. But that was exactly a month away and a lot could happen before that.

Derby, Manchester City and Leeds were all 2/1 for the title with Liverpool at 10/1.

It took some Derby County supporters a long time to appreciate the qualities of centre forward John O’Hare but surely even the most sceptical were converted by the end of the 1971-72 season. Brian Clough never had any doubts though and neither did his colleagues who were all well aware of his importance to the team. Scotland manager Tommy Docherty was a big fan too and by now he was back in the national side on a regular basis. Docherty had expressed the opinion that with his back to the goal, O’Hare was the best centre forward in Great Britain.

O’Hare’s 13 goals in 40 games made him Derby’s highest scorer from open play that season, just ahead of Hector, but it was his skill at holding on to the ball while being battered and harried by defenders before laying off a pass to a colleague that marked him out as something special.

His outstanding effort in the 2-1 win against ‘Double’ holders Arsenal in October was one of the highlights of the season. But even that was surpassed by his performance in the victory over Leeds where, like many other First Division centre halves, Jack Charlton had found it impossible to cope with O’Hare who had to put up with some particularly rough treatment throughout the season.

Roy McFarland described John O’Hare’s performance against Leeds as career-defining and said, “Nobody in that Derby team put his body on the line for the cause more often than John, who took such a kicking from defenders and when he peeled his socks off in the dressing room we could see his calves and ankles had turned black and blue.

“John’s lips must have been bruised as well, from the times he had to bite them in refusing to rise to the bait and retaliate to the provocation. While Archie Gemmill had the ability to run the ball out of trouble and right up the other end of the pitch, John was always the man we looked to as the focal point to launch attacks.

“We knew we could chip the ball up to him and it would stick, nine times out of 10. His innate positional sense took him into little pockets of space where he could control the ball on his huge chest or trap it on a thigh. Then he would look to lay it off, or maybe catch a run by Hector out of the corner of his eye, or wait to be clattered from behind to win free kicks, which Hinton would seek to exploit.

“O’Hare’s bravery and tactical nous more than compensated for a lack of pace. He may not have been eye candy for the supporters, but he was the consummate professional.”

For those who never saw him play, if you can absorb what Roy McFarland so succinctly said about him, then you will know everything you need to about John O’Hare the player.

[mozza]

 

So many great memories, we can't let this club die..

[LeedsCityRam]

Matchday 37 – Monday 3rd April 1972 & the visit of Newcastle to the BBG

After the dramatic clash with Leeds on Easter Saturday, Derby had a golden opportunity to grab control of the title race with a win against midtable Newcastle – with their title rivals all playing later in the week, Derby knew a win would take them 3 points clear at the top & pile pressure on the chasing pack. Newcastle also seemed there for the taking with only 4 wins from 18 away league games so far & had also been beaten by Derby three times already this season – once in the league back in October & twice in the Texaco Cup.

But disaster unfolded this Easter Monday, with Derby stumbling to their first home league defeat of 71/72 in front of 38k at the BBG. Tommy Cassidy’s goal gave Newcastle a shock away win & eroded Derby’s hard fought advantage at the top, although Clough put a brave face on it afterwards – see below;

 

 

A low key front page of the Ram focusing on ungrateful hospital radio, introduction of mascots & claiming title of Champions of the Midlands;

 

Derby stayed top despite their shock defeat as Man City weren’t playing until the following day & Leeds a day after that. Liverpool however took full advantage by walloping Man Utd 0-3 at Old Trafford to move into 2nd place and one point behind Derby;

Edited April 3, 2022 by LeedsCityRam

[Guest]

 

In that morning’s Daily Mirror, Ken Jones, aka ‘The Voice of Football’ wrote a glowing piece about Roy McFarland entitled ‘Mac the Man to Crown Derby.’ The article included the following observations:

‘Roy McFarland’s unblemished form has established him as the key figure in a gripping four-club tussle for the League Championship. Certainly Derby County now have no need to promote the opinion that their centre-half is the best in Britain.

‘Leeds recognise the extent of McFarland’s contribution to Derby’s cause, and believe that if it is possible for one man to settle a major issue then he can.

Referring to Derby’s forthcoming fixtures, Jones wrote, ‘McFarland will take to these contests the qualities of style and resolution that encouraged Dave Mackay to believe that he was in the company of someone special.

Mackay who played alongside McFarland at Derby before leaving to become player manager of Swindon says:

“I felt from the beginning that this feller was going to be a tremendous player. He’s got great skill, more skill than many forwards. He understands the game. He can knock the ball around. He can tackle. And he’s much better in the air than a lot of people give him credit for. If he has improved this season it’s probably because he has Colin Todd playing beside him.

“Todd sees things early, he pounces quickly, and this means that Roy can commit himself more readily than when I was in the team. I no longer had the speed to cover if Roy made a mistake. Todd can do this, so maybe Roy has grown even more confident.”

However, despite the unbeaten home record, the outstanding win against Leeds and the fact that Derby had dropped just one point in their last eight games, courtesy of Mr. Kirkpatrick’s howler when he had disallowed Hector’s goal at Stoke, most pundits were still making Clough’s side outsiders for the title. Manchester City were still fancied too but had recently signed the unpredictable Rodney Marsh from QPR and there were rumours that his arrival had a destabilising effect on their squad.

For the second time in three days, the Baseball Ground was again packed for the Easter Monday visit of mid-table Newcastle United. The Rams had already beaten them three times this season in the League visit to St James’ Park and in both legs of the Texaco Cup semi-final. However, before the game, Clough, in an effort to avoid complacency, had warned his team that the Magpies would be even harder to overcome than Leeds.

Hinton returned after a three game absence to replace Jim Walker, who had proved to be an admirable stand-in. On the face of it, Newcastle who had lost 1-0 at Sheffield United on the Saturday had little to play for. The Rams attacked from the start but were soon finding that the visitors’ defence, marshalled by skipper Bobby Moncur, was going to be difficult to break down. But Derby were desperately unlucky not to take the lead in 16 minutes when Gemmill’s shot hit the post with McFaul completely beaten. The ball ran across the line but there was no one at hand to apply the finishing touch.

Boulton, who had been playing with an injured finger for a few weeks, was being well protected by his defenders but there were fears that it might not be Derby’s day when McFarland went down injured following an aerial collision with Tommy Gibb. McFarland left the field with blood pouring from his head and Gibb was stretchered off suffering from concussion, to be replaced by the young Northern Ireland international midfielder, Tommy Cassidy.

McFarland had been keeping the prolific Malcolm McDonald relatively quiet until then and fortunately the Newcastle striker was unable to capitalise on the captain’s absence for treatment. Derby might have gone ahead shortly before the break but O’Hare’s shot from Durban’s low cross hit McFaul’s legs.

The game was scoreless at the break and McFarland returned for the start of the second half and there seemed to be more urgency about Derby’s play. O’Hare headed just wide from a Hinton centre and then McFaul was tested by shots from Gemmill and Hector. But blood was again pouring from McFarland’s wound and he had to leave the field for a second time to receive further treatment.

Boulton made good saves from Green and McDonald and it was looking increasingly likely that the game would remain goalless.But with 20 minutes remaining, McFarland returned to the fray with his head bandaged. Almost his first act was to bring down the nippy Stewart Barrowclough, for which he was booked. The resultant free kick led to shots being blocked from Green and McDonald but the ball fell to substitute Cassidy who, being in the right place at the right time fired coolly into the corner of the net past Boulton to give Newcastle a surprise lead.

Almost immediately, Barrowclough squandered a chance to put the game beyond Derby’s reach. He did everything right after running clear from a throw-in but after drawing Boulton, he put his shot wide of the post when he really should have found the net.

Despite frantic efforts, Derby could not find a way through the determined Newcastle rearguard and the match ended in a disappointing one-nil defeat. This brought to an end a magnificent run of 26 home League games without defeat, stretching back to the 31st March 1971 when Forest had won 2-1.

It was a bitter blow and a totally unexpected one too. Supporters had been anticipating that end of season fixtures against Manchester City and Liverpool were likely to be particularly tricky but this had been thought of as a home banker. A deflated Brian Clough admitted that his side just couldn’t break down the Newcastle defence for which he said that Bobby Moncur deserved full marks.

Leeds and Manchester City were not playing that afternoon but worryingly Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford and were now slap bang in the middle of the title race. The following day Manchester City lost 2-0 at Southampton and now, rather like their neighbours from Old Trafford they appeared to be on the slide too.

John Robson missed only one game this season through injury. Peter Taylor spotted him almost by accident playing for Birtley Juniors in Co. Durham in October 1967. Taylor went on a scouting mission to watch a young forward who had attracted the attention of Derby’s North-East scout, Barry Cornforth. After 10 minutes, Taylor decided he had made a wasted trip but stopped to watch a game on a neighbouring pitch where a young midfielder caught his eye. Taylor was wary of the presence of other scouts and ensured that he was overheard telling Cornforth that there was nothing to watch here. He then left for Derby, having discreetly told Cornforth to find out who the boy was and then phone him. That evening Taylor took his call and was told that he was John Robson who was 17 and lived in Birtley and he was due to go to Newcastle United the next week for a trial. Taylor immediately contacted Clough and they travelled back north the next day. FA rules forbade the signing of players on the Sabbath but by 11am they called unannounced on Robson at home in the presence of his parents and the Birtley club secretary.  John agreed to sign and travelled to Derby the next day for that purpose. Derby made a donation to Birtley juniors having acquired Robson's signature.

He made an instant impact in midfield in the reserve team. He made his first-team debut at Ipswich in March 1968 and played three more games that season, scoring in a 1-3 home defeat to Blackpool on the final day. The next season he established himself at left back and played in every game as the Rams cantered to the Second Division title. He developed quickly as a stylish defender and a valuable member of the team, noted for his sheer consistency. He just never seemed to have an off day.

So, it came as no surprise when his sharp tackling and an ability to overlap down the left wing attracted the attention of Sir Alf Ramsey who handed him a place in his England U23 side, which led to him appearing seven times. He also made one appearance for the English Football League representative side.

Derby County’s success since Robson made his debut at such a young age was a dream come true for the young man. Although he lost his place in the Derby side the following season after the acquisition of David Nish from Leicester, he went on to enjoy success with Aston Villa until, sadly, his career came to a premature end in 1978 after he contracted multiple sclerosis.

He owned a newsagents shop in Sutton Coldfield and had other business ventures, which sadly all failed. He also had several failed marriages. He suffered severe psychological problems, brought on by his illness. Tragically, he passed away in 2004 at the age of 53. He was resident in a hospice in Erdington and died almost penniless.

In 2012, his son, Gary, raised £4k for a house deposit by auctioning John’s nine-carat gold Division One champions’ plaque-medal from Derby’s 1971-72 title-winning season, along with two League Cup Final victory tankards he won with Villa against Norwich and Everton, and a personal football programme collection. The auction was held at the Hawthorns, the home of West Brom. The winning bidder remained anonymous, but was believed to be a Derby County supporter.

RIP John Dixon Robson (15 July 1950 to 12 May 2004). Taken too early. Your name will always be mentioned when the great days of Derby County and Aston Villa are spoken of.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Brailsford Ram

[Guest]

For anyone interested in this thread, this gem of an article from the Daily Mail is a must read.

The surviving members of the team have been invited to attend the Cardiff City home game, along with John Robson's son, Gary.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10677815/Derby-legends-trip-memory-lane-50-years-winning-league.html

 

[AndyinLiverpool]

10 minutes ago, Brailsford Ram said:

For anyone interested in this thread, this gem of an article from the Daily Mail is a must read.

The surviving members of the team have been invited to attend the Cardiff City home game, along with John Robson's son, Gary.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10677815/Derby-legends-trip-memory-lane-50-years-winning-league.html

 

Spoiler alert

[PistoldPete]

1 hour ago, Brailsford Ram said:

For anyone interested in this thread, this gem of an article from the Daily Mail is a must read.

The surviving members of the team have been invited to attend the Cardiff City home game, along with John Robson's son, Gary.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10677815/Derby-legends-trip-memory-lane-50-years-winning-league.html

 

Fanstastic banter from O'Hare ,Gemmill and McFarland.